Abstract

In contemporary philosophical discourse the image of the hircocervus, rooted in the tradition of Western thought, is frequently invoked as a metaphor for the impossible and the incongruous. Not a few references to this legendary animal appear as well in the work of Benedetto Croce. One of these is at the centre of the investigation presented here: the uncertain interpretation of its meaning, widely misunderstood or even falsified, draws our attention to an important trait that runs through the history of Italian legal philosophy in the twentieth century. It is around this trait that the discussion in this essay develops